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The secret to my guacamole recipe and best wine pairing?

Tracie P and I both do a lot of cooking at home and each of us has her/his respective pièces de ré·sis·tance (she fries, I grill; she boils the pasta, I simmer the rice, etc.). And while she is by far the more skilled in the kitchen (ubi major minor cessat), I can say with confidence that my guacamole has gained traction at our dinner parties as having — how can I say? — that je ne sais quoi.

My secret? I peel and seed the tomatoes before I dice them. Then I place them in a colander, lightly salt them, and let them purge their water. The other trick is no secret to anyone who knows good guacamole: buy your avocados while still unripened, place them in a brown paper bag, and then give them a couple of days to ripen slowly on your kitchen countertop (or other cool place, away from direct sunlight).

Otherwise, the rest is simple: a handful of finely chopped cilantro, a teaspoon of minced garlic, a tablespoon of minced white onion, 2 diced tomatoes (peeled, seeded, and purged as per above), 3-4 ripe avocados (as per above), 2 seeded and diced jalapeños, salt and pepper to taste, chili flakes to taste, and freshly squeezed lime juice to taste.

The perfect pairing for guacamole?

I think I’ve found it and I wrote about it today over at the Houston Press…

Happy Friday and Happy Memorial Day, yall! Enjoy the “ponte” (“bridge”), as they say in Italian, the three-day weekend! And as our good friend Melvin Croaker would say, please remember our troops!

4 thoughts on “The secret to my guacamole recipe and best wine pairing?”

Must be a Cali secret! I do the same friggin’ thing to my guacamole, including peeling, seeding and salt draining my tomatoes. I use slightly less chili pepper but other than that mine is exactly the same. I dig Provencal Rose with guacamole as well.

@Samantha I was taught how to make guacamole and salsas by the produce man at the Ralph’s on Wilshire & Hauser… :-) He was an awesome dude… Love me some Tejas but Cali rules! I know you know it… :-) Have a great holiday…

@Scott Tracie P never liked guacamole until she had mine! ha! Have fun and send a photo and recipe!